Overtime Hours & Article 36 Agreement Limit Checker | Free 45h/Month & 360h/Year Alert
Enter your monthly overtime and holiday-work hours to instantly check compliance against the limits of Japan's Article 36 Agreement (36-kyotei) and Labor Standards Act: 45 hours/month and 360 hours/year in principle, up to 720 hours/year with a special clause, and — with or without a special clause — under 100 hours in any single month and a 2-6 month average of no more than 80 hours/month (overtime plus holiday work).
Judging compliance against Japan's overtime ceilings
Enter the hours of overtime and holiday work for each month and this tool judges how much headroom remains against the ceilings set under a Japanese labour-management agreement on overtime. The ordinary ceilings are 45 hours a month and 360 a year, and where a special clause has been agreed the annual ceiling can be extended to 720 hours. Separately, overtime and holiday work combined must stay under 100 hours in any single month and average no more than 80 across consecutive months — a limit that always applies, whether or not there is a special clause.
What is overlooked most often here is that requirement of an 80-hour average across consecutive months. Following the monthly figures alone leaves you unable to notice a state in which no month reaches 100 hours and yet the average over two to six months exceeds 80. Ninety hours followed by seventy-five, for instance, sits within the ceiling in each single month while averaging 82.5, which fails the requirement. Because the condition must hold for every window — the preceding two months, three months and so on up to six — a busy spell binds the months that follow it as well. Managing month by month is not enough; the hours have to be apportioned with several months in view.
Sources used in this calculation
Statutory figures such as tax and insurance rates come from the public bodies listed below. They change when the law is revised, so please also check the primary source before relying on the result for an important decision.
- Statutory overtime caps (Labor Standards Act Art. 36: 45 h/month, 360 h/year and special-clause limits) — e-Gov Law Search (Digital Agency, Japan) Effective from 2026-07 ／ Last checked 2026-10-17
How to judge it
- State whether a special clause applies Without one, the ceilings are 45 hours a month and 360 a year.
- Enter the overtime and holiday work for each month Enter overtime and holiday work in their separate columns. The ordinary ceilings of 45 hours a month and 360 a year count overtime only, while the 100-hour single-month limit and the 80-hour multi-month average are judged on the two combined.
- Read the single-month judgement With or without a special clause, overtime plus holiday work must come in under 100 hours in a single month.
- Check the multi-month average It must stay within 80 hours for every window from two months to six.
Tips for getting more out of it
- The Article 36 Agreement judges overtime and holiday work differently. The basic caps (45h/month, 360h/year) only count overtime hours, but the under-100h/month and 80h multi-month average limits add holiday work on top. These two limits apply even without a special clause, so a month with 44 hours of overtime plus 56 hours of holiday work (100 hours in total) is a violation even though it stays within the 45-hour monthly cap.
- The rolling average check must pass for every window ending at the current month: the last 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 months. Even if the current month looks fine, a single high month buried further back can push a longer average over 80 hours.
- Even with a special clause in place, a month can exceed 45 hours no more than 6 times per fiscal year. Exceeding it a 7th time is a violation regardless of whether the 100h/month or 720h/year caps are still satisfied.
- This tool is a self-reported estimate for reference only. Use your company's official attendance records for real compliance decisions, and talk to your manager or HR early if you're approaching any of these limits.
Where it comes in useful
Planning how to spread a busy period
Piling hours into a busy spell binds the months that follow. You can apportion them with that in view.
Establishing the position department by department
A company with headroom overall can contain one department pressed right up against the line.
Checking what remains for the year
You can establish how many hours are still available against the annual ceiling.
Grounding a staffing plan
Sitting permanently against the ceiling is evidence that there are not enough people.
Terms in the overtime agreement
- Labour-management overtime agreement
- The agreement on overtime and holiday work made under Article 36 of Japan's Labour Standards Act.
- Ordinary ceiling
- 45 hours a month and 360 a year. Without a special clause, these cannot be exceeded.
- Special clause
- The provision allowing the ceiling to be raised where circumstances are exceptional. Even then 720 hours a year is the limit.
- Under 100 hours in a single month
- A line that overtime and holiday work combined cannot cross, with or without a special clause. Note that it is "under", not "up to".
- An 80-hour average across months
- A requirement that overtime and holiday work combined must meet for every window from two months to six, with or without a special clause. Monthly management alone will miss it.
- Holiday work
- Work performed on a statutory rest day. It is added to overtime when the ceilings are judged.
Frequently Asked Questions
Side Note — The "karoshi line" and Japan's overtime cap regulation
The Article 36 Agreement (named after Article 36 of Japan's Labor Standards Act) is the legal mechanism that makes overtime and holiday work possible at all: by default, working beyond the statutory 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week is prohibited, and a company must file this labor-management agreement with the local Labor Standards Inspection Office before it can legally ask employees to work overtime.
Amendments that took effect in April 2019 (April 2020 for small and medium-sized businesses) elevated what used to be non-binding administrative guidance into a legally enforceable cap with criminal penalties. The thresholds that cannot be exceeded with or without a special clause — under 100 hours in any single month and an 80-hour average over 2 to 6 months — were set to match the so-called "karoshi line," the overtime level Japan's workers' compensation authorities treat as strongly linked to death or serious illness from overwork.
Even the basic 45-hour/month, 360-hour/year cap reflects a level where health risk is considered to rise if sustained. The special clause is meant strictly for temporary, exceptional circumstances — a workplace that habitually runs right up against these ceilings is a clear signal that its labor management needs a rethink.